Due to a lapse in appropriations, EPA websites will not be regularly updated. In the event of an environmental emergency imminently threatening the safety of human life or where necessary to protect certain property, the EPA website will be updated with appropriate information. Please note that all information on the EPA website may not be up to date, and transactions and inquiries submitted to the EPA website may not be processed or responded to until appropriations are enacted.

America Recycles Day 2018

On America Recycles Day 2018 (November 15), EPA recognized the importance and impact of recycling, which has contributed to American prosperity and the protection of our environment. The recycling rate has increased from less than 7 percent in 1960 to the current rate of 35 percent. An EPA study found that every 10,000 tons of materials recycled supports nearly 16 jobs and $760,000 in wages.

The recycling efforts of communities and business throughout the United States have helped with this success and growth. To build on our progress, EPA encourages every American to contribute by recycling right, not only on every annual America Recycles Day, but all year. This means checking with your local recycling provider to be certain that they will accept everything you place in your recycling bin. Items like cardboard, metal cans and paper are commonly accepted by local curbside programs, and items like plastic bags, electronics and batteries can NEVER go in the curbside recycling bin. Visit our How Do I Recycle?: Common Recyclables to see how and where to recycle these and other items.

What You Can Do To Reduce Waste

Find out what you can do to help make a difference in our environment every day. Whether you're at home, on the go, in the office or at school, there are many opportunities to go green by reducing, reusing and recycling. Visit the links below to see how, and check out our Think Green Before You Shop poster for questions you can ask yourself before shopping to reduce, reuse and recycle more.

Recycling Saves Resources and Creates Jobs

To celebrate America Recycles Day in 2016, EPA released significant findings on the economic benefits of the recycling industry with an update to the national Recycling Economic Information (REI) Study. This study analyzes the numbers of jobs, wages and tax revenues attributed to recycling. The study found that in a single year, recycling and reuse activities in the United States accounted for:

757,000 jobs

$36.6 billion in wages; and

$6.7 billion in tax revenues.

This equates to 1.57 jobs, $76,030 in wages and $14,101 in tax revenues for every 1,000 tons of materials recycled.

The REI study also analyzes Construction and Demolition (C&D) materials. Of the jobs, wages and revenues generated from this EPA data, C&D recycling account for almost 232,000 jobs, more than $11.6 billion in wages, and nearly $1.9 billion in taxes, which is more jobs, wages and revenue generated than any other material measured.

Recycle More, Recycle Right

How often do you ask yourself what's right to put in your recycling bin? Next time you go to throw something away, get creative and think of ways to reduce waste in the first place! See our poster to the right and our How Do I Recycle?: Common Recyclables web page to learn how to recycle more and recycle right.

Save Energy By Recycling

Recycling everyday objects, such as paper, bottles and magazines saves energy. The materials that you recycle are used to create the products you buy. This means less virgin material needs to be mined or harvested, processed, manufactured and transported - all of which consume energy. The iWARM tool is based on EPA's Waste Reduction Model (WARM) for solid waste planners and organizations. iWARM can be used to calculate how much energy organizations can save and how much greenhouse gases they can avoid by recycling versus landfilling their waste.